New South Wales has announced 1542 new locally-acquired Covid-19 cases and 9 deaths in 24 hours.
A woman stands waiting to get vaccinated in Sydney. Photo: AFP
The number of new cases is a new record for any Australian jurisdiction.
State Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she and the Health Minister would address the public "intermittently" on a needs basis, instead of the usual daily media conferences.
"I will turn up when I need to but to expect the leader of the government indefinitely to do this every day means that I am not doing my job properly," she said.
Earlier this week, Berejiklian released modelling which estimated Covid-19 cases would peak in NSW next week and that hospitalisations would surge next month.
She has previously said "September and October will be really difficult" for the state.
"What we need to do is all of us have to start accepting that we need to live with Covid because Covid would be around for three or four years," she said today.
Despite the daily Covid-19 press conference being a fixture of the Delta outbreak the Premier rejected the suggestion she was trying to hide from the public.
"We have the most transparent information of any state," she said.
"Apart from repeating the numbers that health repeats, we have to make sure we have something important to say and I think people understand the health messaging now."
In 2020 the Premier only ceased daily press conferences when NSW was recording a very low number or zero Covid-19 infections per day.
Among the deaths in the latest reporting period was a man in his 30s who died at Nepean Hospital.
A woman in her 40s from south-west Sydney died at Liverpool Hospital and a woman in her 50s from the Central Coast died at Gosford Hospital.
The other people who died were aged in this 60s, 70s and 80s.
Berejiklian said although there had been a recent stabilisation of cases in the Canterbury-Bankstown area in Sydney's west, infections were on the rise again.
Deputy Premier John Barilaro said cases were stabilising in regional areas of the state, although they were still high in the Illawarra region.
Restrictions for fully vaccinated people will ease in NSW next week, and the Premier announced a small but significant tweak to the new freedoms today.
From 12:01am Monday (local time), fully vaccinated people who live outside Sydney's 12 local government areas (LGAs) of concern will be able to gather.
The five-person cap had been set to include children, however, the rules have been updated and now anyone aged under 12 will not count.
The tweak will make it easier for families with young children to meet.
Meanwhile, fully vaccinated people in Sydney's 12 local government areas (LGAs) of concern will be able to enjoy two hours of outdoor recreation with members of their household
They must stay within 5km of their home, not mingle with people from other households and abide by the 9pm to 5am curfew.
There are currently 1,156 Covid-19 cases in NSW's hospitals, with 207 people in intensive care, 89 of whom require ventilation.
Victoria
Meanwhile, the state of Victoria has recorded one Covid-19 death and 334 new locally-acquired cases, the biggest daily case tally of the outbreak to date.
Of the new cases, only 149 have been so far linked to known outbreaks.
It comes as regional Victoria, with the exception of Greater Shepparton, begins its first day out of lockdown, with schools re-opening to some students and travel restrictions eased.
Hospitality venues have reopened, with capacity limits of 10 people indoors and 20 outdoors.
Premier Daniel Andrews said he hoped Greater Shepparton would join the rest of regional Victoria next week, pending any further outbreak.
He also warned residents of metropolitan Melbourne not to travel to regional Victoria.
"If you are travelling into regional Victoria, you can expect to be pulled over," Mr Andrews said.
"It won't necessarily be every single car, but there'll be number plate recognition technology used, there will be a static presence of Victoria Police at different parts on major roads."
Australian Capitall Territory
The Australian Capital Territory has recorded 24 new locally-acquired cases and at least six were infectious in the community.
There are 15 people in hospital with Covid-19, with four in intensive care and one of those patients requiring ventilation.
Chief Health Officer Kerryn Coleman said the youngest person in hospital was aged under 12, and the oldest was in their 70s.
-ABC
